A bowling pin setter or skittle setter machine which takes the pins remaining standing after a throw, lifts them off the alley and resets the pins after the knocked down pins have been removed is known from U.S. Pat. No. 2,887,318. This machine includes a clearing device, a vertical conveyor, a pin divider, as well as a pin holding and setting unit. The mechanics of the prior setting machine are technically complex to use. The failure of only one unit within the prior pin setting machine can cause the entire system of the bowling alley to break down which, because of the complexity of the machinery, can only be repaired by costly and extensive maintenance by experts. Further, these systems are expensive for the facility to install and maintain. A further disadvantage is that it is not possible for the setting machine disclosed in the '318 patent to create varied selective pin settings on the alley.
A skittle setting machine disclosed in German Patent DE2322950 is likewise technically complex. For example, the pins travel from a diagonal chute into revolving catch holders in a divided wheel and then swing further downwardly into an alignment rack. The nearly simultaneous rotation of all of the holders is mechanically complex, and unintended rotation of one or some of the catch holders can be unsafe for the mechanic. A further disadvantage is that if the catch receptacles and the rack do not align, the pins remaining after a throw of the ball will not be picked up and set down properly, but only centered in the catch receptacle.